Prepare the Hefekranz dough according to the directions, with the following changes:

add the cardamom to the flour before cutting in the butter

do not add lemon zest

mix in the currants before adding the liquid

After the dough rises for an hour, form the dough into 20 small buns of equal size (about 2 3/4 ounces each) or 16 medium buns (about 3 1/2 ounces each). Arrange on a baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Allow to rise, covered, in a warm room, for another hour.

Twenty minutes before the second rise is finished, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat the milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Brush the buns with the
milk sugar glaze. With a very sharp knife, cut a shallow cross or X in the top of each bun. Brush again with the glaze.

Bake about 25 minutes for small buns, about 30 minutes for medium buns. A half batch needs less time to bake.

Having a craving for hot cross buns during Lent, I checked all of my general baking books and found only one and it sounded
more like fruitcake buns. Bleh. What to do? What to do? It struck me that a hot cross bun is only a sweet bread (there's a
recipe for that) with currants. I added the cardamom because not enough things have cardamom.

And a recipe was born.

This makes 20 small or 16 medium buns, and can be easily halved. The glaze gives a nice, brown color.

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Recipe last updated Sunday March 24, 2013